Tea People Tea Time Mural

After much discussion of new packaging possibilities for tea boxes for the social enterprise Tea People, I decided to create a mural that could be used as a line drawing or a full colour image. Tea People gives 50% of its profits to the education of girls and women in tea growing regions, and aquires tea mainly from India, China, Japan, and Kenya. I wanted the mural to show women from each of these regions, and what motif could be more appropriate than little tea parties? The lines were inspired in part by japanese paintings of waves and the sea, which have a graphic, repeating-pattern feeling to them, and I felt would bring together the images of the women. I wanted to keep it full of fun and whimsy but also able to look elegant as a package. Here are some stages of the work. I painted in the mural completely and the designer decided to use some of the little vignettes from the mural on their new pamphlet.The designer and I collaborated on how to use my illustrations in the company’s new packaging. The new tea boxes will use the line drawing of the mural with a single bold colour, with a box colour for each category of tea that they offer. I love how even a whimsical, hand-drawn image can look elegant when matched with a clean, simple design. Hopefully this will appeal to buyers with a younger appeal and also traditional department stores and retailers.